Definition
An email heat map is a colour-coded visualisation that shows where recipients interact inside an email. Hotter colours mark the areas that attract the most clicks, hovers, or attention, while cooler areas receive little engagement. Marketers use heat maps to see which content, images and calls to action draw attention and which parts are ignored.
Heat maps reveal behaviour that metrics alone cannot. A campaign might have a healthy click rate overall, yet the heat map can show that recipients are clicking a secondary link and ignoring your primary call to action.
Types of Email Heat Maps
| Type | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Click heat map | Where clicks happen in the email |
| Scroll heat map | How far down recipients scroll |
| Hover / attention map | Where cursors linger on screen |
| Element heat map | Performance of individual sections |
Each emphasises a different dimension of engagement within the same email.
What a Heat Map Can Reveal
- Click concentration: Whether clicks cluster on the main CTA or elsewhere.
- Dead zones: Cold sections that recipients consistently ignore.
- Scroll behaviour: How far content is seen before recipients stop.
- CTA effectiveness: Whether the primary action is actually attracting clicks.
How to Use Email Heat Maps
- Compare design versions: Use heat maps alongside A/B testing to understand why one design wins.
- Re-position key elements: Move the CTA where attention is highest.
- Trim ignored sections: Cut content in persistent dead zones.
- Verify the scan path: Confirm recipients reach the important information.
Related Glossary Terms
A/B Testing
A/B testing in email marketing is the practice of sending two variations of an email to a small sample of your list to determine which version performs better before sending the winner to the remaining subscribers.
Above the Fold in Email
Above the fold in email refers to the content visible to a recipient before they scroll, a critical area for first impressions and primary calls to action.
Accessible CTA (Email)
An accessible CTA is a button or link coded with sufficient colour contrast, visible focus states, descriptive screen-reader text, and a minimum touch target of 44×44 pixels.
Adaptive Design
Adaptive design in email uses predefined layouts that adjust to specific device or client widths, rather than fluidly resizing to every possible screen.
AI-Generated Content in Email
AI-generated content in email is copy, images, code or subject lines produced by artificial intelligence tools to speed up campaign production and testing.
Alt Text
Alt text is the written alternative to an image in an email, displayed when images are blocked, slow to load, or consumed by screen readers.
Frequently Asked Questions
An email heat map is a colour-coded visual showing where recipients interact within an email. Hot colours mark high-engagement areas and cool colours mark ignored ones, making it easy to see what earns attention.
A heat map reveals where clicks and attention concentrate, how far recipients scroll, and which sections are ignored. It shows behaviour that overall metrics miss, such as which link or CTA actually attracts engagement.
Read the colour gradient: hot areas (often red or orange) receive the most interaction, while cold areas (blue or grey) receive little. Focus on confirming your main CTA sits in a hot zone and look for dead zones to improve.
Click tracking records how many clicks each link received. A heat map adds spatial context, showing where those clicks occurred across the email's layout. Combined they show both which links worked and how the design guided attention.